House Republicans Have Voted To Cut Over $1 TRILLION From Medicare Since 1991

December 04, 2009 6:59 pm ET

While Republicans in both chambers of Congress continue to spread the falsehood that Democratic health care reform cuts Medicare (it doesn't), House Republicans have in fact voted to cut $1.02 trillion from Medicare since 1991 - on top of their refusals to increase payments to Medicare physicians.

1991: Republicans Voted To Cut $52.4
Billion From Medicare

89 Republicans Voted To Cut Medicare $25.2 Billion Over
Five Years. In 1991, 89 House Republicans proposed and voted for a
substitute amendment to the Fiscal 1992 Budget Resolution that would have cut
Medicare $25.2 billion over five years. The substitute amendment, introduced by
Rep. Gradison (R-OH), was rejected. [CQ.com; H. Con. Res. 121, Vote # 70,
4/17/1991]

105 Republicans Voted To Cut Medicare $27.2 Billion Over
Five Years. In 1991, 105 Republicans
voted in support of a substitute amendment introduced by Rep. Kasich (R-OH) to
the Fiscal 1992 Budget Resolution that would have implemented cuts in Medicare.
Specifically, the substitute amendment would have "cut entitlement programs by
$6.4 billion in fiscal 1992 and $48.6 billion over five years, including cuts
in Medicare, totaling
$27.2 billion over five years." The motion was rejected. [CQ.com; H. Con. Res.
121, Vote
#69, 4/17/1991]

1992: Republicans Tried To Slash $138.4
Billion From The Americans Most In Need

57 Republicans Voted To Cut Medicare And Medicaid $138.4
Billion Over Five Years. In 1992, 57
House Republicans voted for a substitute amendment to the Fiscal 1993 Budget
Resolution - Spending Freeze introduced by Rep. Dannemeyer (R-CA) that
would have "cut Medicare and Medicaid entitlement programs by $138.4 billion
over five years." The substitute amendment was rejected. [CQ.com; H. Con. Res.
287, Vote
# 38, 3/4/92]

1993: Republicans Voted To Cut $34
Billion From Medicare

156 Republicans Voted
To Cut $34 Billion From Medicare. In 1993, 156 House Republicans voted for
an "amendment to cut federal spending by $90 billion over five years through
various proposals, including $34 billion in Medicare cuts, $52 billion of
discretionary spending cuts and $4 billion in other entitlement cuts and user
fee increases." The motion failed. [CQ.com; HR 3400, Vote
#609, 11/22/93]

1995: Republicans Votes Would Have Cost
Medicare $292.6 Billion

227 Republicans Voted
Twice To Cut Medicare By $270 Billion. In
October 1995, 227 Republicans voted for
the misnamed Medicare Preservation Act of 1995, which cut $270 billion from
Medicare over seven years. The bill
passed. In November 1995, 232 Republicans voted to adopt the conference report
on the Budget Reconciliation Act of 1995, which reduced spending on Medicare by
$270 billion over seven years. The bill
passed. [HR 2425, Vote #731,
10/19/95; HR 2481, Vote #812,
11/17/95]

84 Republicans Voted To Cut An
Additional $22.6 Billion From Medicare.
In 1995, 84 House Republicans voted for the Conservative
Republican Substitute to the FY 1996 Budget Resolution. The substitute bill would have cut
Medicare by an additional $22.6 billion, on top of the $270 billion in
cuts already contained in the budget.
The amendment failed.
[H.C.R. 67, Vote
#343, 5/18/95]

1996: Republican Votes Took $158.1
Billion From America's
Seniors

212 Republicans Voted
To Cut Medicare By $158.1 Billion. In
1996, 212 House Republicans voted to adopt the conference report on the Fiscal
Year 1997 Budget Resolution, which contained $158.1 billion in Medicare cuts
over six years. The bill passed. [H.C.R.
178, Vote #236,
6/12/96]

1997: Republicans Passed A Budget That
Cut $115 Billion From Medicare

219 Republicans Voted
To Cut $115 Billion From Medicare. In
1997, 219 House Republicans voted for passage of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997,
which "cut total projected entitlement spending over five years by about $137
billion, including a $115 billion reduction in Medicare." The bill passed.
[CQ.com; HR 2015, Vote
#241, 6/25/97]

2002: Republicans Supported Drastic
Medicare Cuts

206 Republicans Voted
To Kill A Resolution That Sought To "Repeal Cuts In Payments To Hospitals That
Serve Low-Income Patients...And Ensure Necessary Medicare And Medicaid Funding."
In 2002, Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA) introduced a resolution that would "express the
sense of the House that Congress should" work on legislation that would repeal
cuts to health programs, including Medicare.
Rep. Kenny Hulshof (R-MO) motioned to table the resolution, effectively
killing it with the agreement of 206 Republican votes. The motion to table passed. [CQ.com; accessed 12/4/09;
HR 854, Vote #440,
10/3/02]

208 Republicans Voted
Against A Measure That Would Take Medicare Competition Savings And Put It
Toward Increasing Payments To Medicare Physicians. In 2003, 208 House Republicans voted against
a "motion to instruct House conferees to reject provisions of the House bill
that require the traditional Medicare
program to compete with private plans to provide Medicare benefits by 2010, and reject provisions of the Senate
bill that establish an alternative payment system for preferred provider
organizations in highly competitive regions. The savings from the rejection of
these provisions would be used to increase payments to physicians for Medicare services." The motion was
rejected. [CQ.com; HR 1, Vote #615, 11/6/03]

215 Republicans Voted
Against Increasing Medicare Payments To Rural Hospitals. In 2003, 215 House Republicans voted against
a "motion to recommit the joint resolution to the House Appropriations Committee
with instructions that it be reported back with language that would continue
payment rates for physician services under Medicare at fiscal 2002 levels and increase the base payment
amount that hospitals in small urban and rural areas receive through Medicare to the same as that for
larger urban hospitals." The motion failed.
[CQ.com; H J Res 18, Vote #18, 2/5/03]